Low prevalence of vaccine-type HPV infections in young women following the implementation of a school-based and catch-up vaccination in Quebec, Canada.

BACKGROUND: In Quebec, Canada, a school-based HPV vaccination for girls has been offered since 2008. The vaccine used in the program targets HPV16/18, responsible for ∼70% of cervical cancers and HPV6/11, responsible for the majority of anogenital warts. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of HPV in vaccinated and unvaccinated women. METHODS: Women aged 17-29 years were eligible to participate. Participants' age, vaccination status and diverse risk factors were assessed by a computer-assisted questionnaire. Biological specimens were obtained by self-sampling. HPV genotyping was performed by Linear Array. RESULTS: A total of 2,118 women were recruited. 2,042 completed the questionnaire and 1,937 provided a vaginal sample. Vaccination coverage varied from 83.5% in women aged 17-19 to 19.1% in those aged 23-29. The overall prevalence of HPV in sexually active women was 39.4% (95%CI: 37.0-41.7) and 56.7% of infected women had multiple type infections. The prevalence of vaccine HPV types varied by age and vaccination status except for women aged 23-29 for whom similar results were observed. Vaccine HPV types were detected in 0.3%, 1.4% and 10.5% of vaccinated women aged 17-19, 20-23, and 23-29 (p<0.05), respectively. HPV16 or HPV18 were detected in 10 women having received at least one dose of vaccine. Nine of these women were already sexually active at the time of vaccination. CONCLUSION: Infections with HPV types included in the vaccine are rare in women aged less than 23 years and are virtually absent in those who received at least one dose of vaccine before sexual debut.

Infliximab for IgG4-Related Orbital Disease.

IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a systemic fibroinflammatory condition with unclear pathophysiology. It may occur as a single organ disorder, but multiorgan presentation is common and can mimic several conditions. The preferred therapy consists of steroids, but definite maintenance strategy remains unclear. The authors describe a case of a 61-year-old woman, initially diagnosed with idiopathic orbital inflammation refractory to multiple immunosuppressive agents. The disease was complicated with epilepsy, vision loss, and trismus. Treatment with various immunosuppressive agents was unsuccessful. Eventually the patient was effectively treated with infliximab. This is the second case of IgG4-RD treated with a TNF-blocker documented in literature and the first description to demonstrate its superiority over steroid sparing agents. Although speculative, TNF-blockers might exert their effect in IgG4-RD by interfering with the possible overexpressed TNF alpha due to fibrosis in this disease. Treatment with infliximab appears a good alternative for refractory IgG4-RD. However, further studies are required to define the value of infliximab in IgG4-RD.

An inflammatory condition with different faces: immunoglobulin G4-related disease.

BACKGROUND: Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a systemic fibro-inflammatory condition with involvement of different organs. The pathophysiological mechanism is unclear, but fibrosis is the hallmark of this disease. Early recognition is critical to avoid irreversible organ damage. Recently improved histological testing boosts the diagnostic yield. We present three cases of patients with IgG4-RD to emphasise the broad clinical presentation of this disease. CASE DESCRIPTIONS: Patient A, a 63-year-old male with bilateral orbital swelling due to IgG4-RD, was shown to suffer from IgG4-RD in a multifocal pattern as demonstrated by PET scanning. Patient B, a 53-year-old male with a long-standing abdominal mass of unknown origin, eventually proved to have IgG4-RD. Patient C was a 32-year-old male admitted with pleural effusion and pericardial tamponade. Histological diagnosis after pericardiectomy confirmed IgG4-RD. DISCUSSION: IgG4-RD has many faces and may mimic other conditions, such as malignancy and infectious diseases. Knowledge of this disease is needed to avoid unnecessary diagnostics and delay in treatment. IgG4- RD may be suspected based on specific clinical findings such as elevated serum IgG4 levels, but the diagnosis can only be established histologically. Although corticosteroids are an effective first choice of therapy, the relapse rate after this treatment remains high. The role of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in the treatment of IgG4-RD has not been outlined yet, but there is increasing evidence that rituximab might be an effective second-line therapy. CONCLUSION: IgG4-RD is a disease with many faces requiring early recognition and therapy to avoid permanent damage of the organs.

In vivo MRI mapping of iron oxide-labeled stem cells transplanted in the heart.

In various stem cell therapy approaches poor cell survival has been recognized as an important factor limiting therapeutic efficacy. Therefore noninvasive monitoring of cell fate is warranted for developing clinically effective stem cell therapy. In this study we investigated the use of voxel-based R2 mapping as a tool to monitor the fate of iron oxide-labeled cells in the myocardium. Mesenchymal stem cells were transduced with the luciferase gene, labeled with ferumoxide particles and injected in the myocardium of healthy rats. Cell fate was monitored over a period of 8 weeks by bioluminescence and quantitative magnetic resonance imaging. Bioluminescence signal increased during the first week followed by a steep decrease to undetectable levels during the second week. MR imaging showed a sharp increase in R2 values shortly after injection at the injection site, followed by a very gradual decrease of R2 over a period of 8 weeks. No difference in the appearances on R2-weighted images was observed between living and dead cells over the entire time period studied. No significant correlation between the bioluminescence optical data and R2 values was observed and quantitative R2 mapping appeared not suitable for the in vivo assessment of stem cell. These results do not follow previous in vitro reports where it was proposed that living cells may be distinguished from dead cells on the basis of the R2 relaxivities (intracellular and extracellular iron oxides). Cell proliferation, cell migration, cell death, extracellular superparamagnetic iron oxide dispersion and aggregation exhibit different relaxivities. In vivo these processes happen simultaneously, making quantification very complex, if not impossible.

[Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada Disease: clinical features, therapy and long-term visual outcome in a Caucasian and African population]. / Le syndrome de Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada: aspects cliniques, traitement et suivi à long terme dans une population caucasienne et africaine.

PURPOSE: Seventeen consecutive cases of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease were studied to determine their clinical profile. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of 17 cases, in a white and African population. RESULTS: The sex ratio (female/male) was 1.6. Mean age was 37.65 +/- 10.2 years. Eight patients were Caucasian (47%), and seven were from North Africa (41%), and two were black Africans (12%). Eleven patients were referred during the acute stage, and six patients secondarily. All patients had bilateral ocular involvement. Panuveitis with retinal serous detachment was the most frequent presentation (88%). Extraocular signs were found in 87% of the cases. Initial visual acuity was 0.29 +/- 0.36, and final visual acuity was 0.78 +/- 0.3. Patients seen during the acute stage were treated with general corticotherapy. Immunosuppressive agents were given in 56% of the cases. CONCLUSIONS: Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease, in a Caucasian and African population, has a presentation close to that of the Japanese population. However, cutaneous signs are much rarer. Visual prognosis was generally favorable.

[Loss of visual acuity due to choroidal ischemia in Fabry's disease]. / Baisse d'acuité visuelle par ischémie choroïdienne chez un patient atteint de la maladie de Fabry.

We report a case of a 21-year-old man with Fabry's disease who presented with a sudden decrease in visual acuity to 20/200 in the left eye. Pale areas with a lobular choroidal distribution were seen on fundus examination. No retinal vascular causes were found on further evaluation. With anticoagulation treatment, the patient's subsequent course was good, with visual recovery to 20/25 and normalization of the funduscopic appearance. Recovery of both visual acuity and the pale, lobular areas suggested a choroidal etiology, probably ischemic because of the sudden onset. Choroidian ischemia is therefore a cause of visual acuity loss in Fabry's disease, so far not described in the literature.